New Technology at Local Hospital to Benefit Heart Patients

Patients at Archbold Memorial Hospital in Thomasville will now have clearer vascular images and faster results thanks to the new cath lab. The state of the art technology helps doctors and patients.

Vascular imaging and cardiac catheterizations are used to show how well your blood is pumping. Archbold Memorial Hospital’s new cath lab now has the latest technology to give you the clearest images of your blood pipelines.

Dr. James Karas, Cardiologist, says, "We'll be able to take better pictures of the heart and all of the vascular anatomy so that we can make better diagnoses and see the pictures of the heart and arteries in better detail."

They are details Dr. Karas was happy to show.

He explains, "This is a picture of the right coronary artery where the catheter is inserted here and it shows all the branches including this very tight stinocis down stream. I was able to angle the intensifier to a location where I was able to open this up and take a picture of this tight blockage. This would have been much more difficult to take using our older technology."

Supervisor Stacy Holten shows us how the plate moves easily around the patient. Holten tells us this new technology makes it possible to send images almost instantaneously to physicians.

Stacy says, "Everybody is pretty much family around the area and around the surrounding counties. We want to provide the best quality care."

With the new addition that's being built, the R. Charles Laudermilk, Sr. Heart and Vascular Center will house three new cath labs. Hospital officials say the center should be complete in late 2005.

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